TDGD: Yggdrasil's Paladin
by ArlenOfTheMist
Summary: the reboot of my story The Demigod Detective, but this time Cody Watkins and blackjack the flying squirrel will be there to join the fun! Oh the joy of going to Japan for your senior trip, the Japan of another dimension that is! Crossing paths with magic, detectives, phantom thieves, and... the worlds youngest looking 23-year-old? things just got 'Kaito-on-a-sugar-high' crazy! AU
1. Chapter 1: Ups and Downs

**(A/N: Hey there, this is the reboot of my TDGD universe! the original version started at a point in this AU's timeline that was too hard for me to work with due to a serious lack of ideas for chapters 3-20 for the first version of this story.**

 **Anyway... this story starts 6 years after the point that the series is at in canon, the main pairings so far are ConanxAi and KaitoxAoko, and a word of warning, this story will have at least 5 prominent OCs.)**

 **thoughts are in** _Italics_

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Ups and Downs**

Kaito Kuroba and his 'Seven-year-old son' Arthur Kuroba, who was, up until a lab incident five years ago, formerly known as Conan Edogawa or Shinichi Kudo, sat in The Kaitou KID workshop hidden behind the painting of Kaito's father, finishing the last bits of planning and preparations for their upcoming joint Heist.

"Arthur, you sure the temporary antidotes your Girlfriend whipped up for you aren't hurting you? It's been six years and we still don't know everything about your powers."

Arthur blushed a bit at this, but it quickly faded, replaced by an expression somewhere between the classic confident smirk of Conan Edogawa and the equally classic smirk of Kaitou kid, though some sadness shone in his eyes.

"Oh come on Kaito, first, don't call them powers, I've seen them as more of a curse ever since I came to fully understand them, and second, you do realize that we don't need to keep up the father and son act 24/7 right?"

He'd meant the last bit as some teasing to lessen the effects of what he said initially, but he could still tell that Kaito was mentally punching himself for talking about the healing abilities and lack of aging in either form as if they were a positive thing.

"Anyway, Ai wouldn't give me the temporary antidotes if she thought they were a hazard to my safety, she may not be the type of person who'd say this sort of thing outright, but if there was the tiniest possibility of the antidotes hurting me, she'd stop giving them to me, each of us cares too much to lose the other."

 ***FLASHBACK 2 ½ years ago*, a quiet new years' eve at Conan and Ai's shared apartment in San Francisco, California**

Ai, now physically 10, and Conan, Still stuck physically 7 sit next to each other on the couch in front of the TV to watch the ball drop In Times' square.

As the ball drops Conan rests his head on Ai's shoulder, and begins to voice the thought he'd been mulling over in his head for the past two months.

"Ai…" he whispers

" _W-wait why did he just call me that?_ "

Noticing her surprised expression, slight blush, and lack of speaking, thoughts like " _Oh great, did I mess this up already?!_ " flitted through his mind before he shook away the momentary doubt and continued.

"You've been my Watson for so long, and words can't express how grateful I am to you for staying by my side all this time. I guess what I'm trying to say is… I'd be honored if you'd be my Irene Adler too. I love you Ai Haibara." Conan finished off his speech by cupping his hand around her cheek and kissing her full on the lips, blushing heavily the entire time.

She was shocked by the entire speech, too shocked to do anything for the first five seconds of the kiss, though it took much, much longer than that for the kiss, which turned quite passionate, to end.

"Conan, you have no idea how much I've wanted to hear those words from you for the past three years. You kept me waiting, Tantei-san." Were her words as tears of joy began streaming down her cheeks.

 ***END OF FLASHBACK***

"I've done all the last checks on my gadgets, so you can be sure that Doyle the Specter and Kaitou KID will both  
be in top form tomorrow night!" Arthur said.

"We'll definitely need it, with Snake and the other stragglers from his branch of the Organization still MIA and the veritable fortress of a museum displaying Yggdrasil's Bloom, it'd be impossible for anyone but us." Kaito replied

Two months ago, a Viking shipwreck had been discovered off the coast of Scotland, and the Opal Named Yggdrasil's Bloom was found on board. The opal was named for the almost otherworldly magenta iridescence it had under bright light, which starkly contrasted its unusually greenish coloration. The strangest thing about the gem was, no one could identify where the Vikings had looted it from.

Since its discovery, it had been bought by a business rival of the Suzuki family, Chiharu Kanegawa, a Billionaire and widow of a businessman who'd been infamous for his ruthless business dealings. She had decided to display Yggdrasil's Bloom at a company event that was happening in a high-security convention center she'd personally designed and paid for the construction of.

As Kaito and Arthur were looking over digital 3D floorplans of the convention Center and a number of buildings adjacent to it, (they'd made it a habit to map out any possible hiding spots for snipers after one too many close calls during the fall of the organization.) Kaito's Phone began vibrating in his pocket.

When Kaito looked at the caller ID his face paled a bit, though he did manage to keep his poker-face up. When he answered, Aoko's voice blared through the speaker as if through a boom-box set at max volume.

"Kaito, Arthur, get down here right now! You're both almost an hour late for dinner!"

Arthur, having been severely startled by this sudden outburst, set his super-kick sneakers to max power on instinct and then promptly stumbled sideways, causing him to launch himself halfway through the ceiling as he tried to catch his balance.

After the shock wore off, Kaito began laughing so hard he nearly fell off his chair.

"A-Arthur I'd ask if you're ok, but in your case the answer seems to always be yes… I'll just go get the step ladder." Kaito said when he finally managed to stop laughing.

Aoko just sighed from the other end of the call, but Kaito could practically see her rolling her eyes right about then.

* * *

 **So how was it? Chapters 2 through 6 are where it'll really start to get interesting so stay tuned. Reviews are greatly appreciated, I'm new at this so i need the advice, I just hope i don't get any infestations of plotjackalopes or Caer-Bannog-Variety plotbunnies!**

 **-Arlen**


	2. Chapter 2: Interruptions & Introductions

**A/N: Hey there I'm back with another chapter for you, sorry it took a few days, my sleep schedule has become a complete wreck as a result of a single late night energy drink I was given accidentally when i had a headache due to mild dehydration. Anyway here it is, the first appearance of my main OC**

 **-Arlen**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: interruptions and introductions**

He looked across the table at Katie Patterson, his crush for the past year-and-a-half, who he was finally dating.

"Say 'ah' Connor" she said lifting up a spoonful of ice cream and giving him a dreamy little smile and flirtatious wink.

"aah…"

As soon as the ice cream entered his mouth, it felt as if he was choking on a tennis ball sized fluffy pompom, and a few seconds later, he sat bolt upright in bed, coughing and causing a small, black and white, furry creature to fall rather forcefully onto his lap.

"What the hell Blackjack!" Connor shouted when he realized that the creature that almost suffocated him was his pet flying squirrel.

"Sometimes I wonder why on earth Uncle Albert ever thought it was a good idea to keep you, ya' little nut-job." Connor muttered groggily, rolling over to check the clock.

'3 A.M.? That fuzzy little menace is going to be the end of me!' he thought as he dozed off again.

* * *

meanwhile...

Arthur sat at the dining table eating his breakfast, which consisted of a mere three fried eggs and a cup of coffee. It was a small breakfast, though he didn't mind, he'd developed a taste for American cuisine during the five years he spent in San Francisco with Ai after the fall of the Organization, though he still regretted trying the grasshopper burger he'd ordered at some restaurant popular for its 'Quirky' menu items.

Just as he stood up on his tip-toes and put his plate in the sink, Aoko entered from the hall.

"Arthur-kun, hurry up! you don't want to be late for your first day at a new school, do you?"

"ok Okaa-san!"

Arthur would be starting his seventh year of first grade today. he would have already gone completely insane if he hadn't been going to a different school each year, and this time he'd be a bit closer to his old stomping grounds. This time he was going to Ekoda Elementary.

When Arthur and his 'mother' arrived outside the door to the main office of Ekoda elementary, Aoko crouched down to talk to him so only he could hear  
"Are you sure you have everything, what about your super-kick sneakers?"

"yes."

"your special watch?"

"yes."

"your cell phone?"

"yes."

"your lunch?"

"for the last time yes. don't worry, I'll be fine, and anyway you're not really my mom. If you wanted a real kid of your own you could have had one by now, you and Kaito are married after all." this left Aoko a bit flustered, but she shook it off easily, being a bit less childish than she was six years ago.

as Aoko stood back up to walk into the office with Arthur, a middle-aged woman with dark brown, shoulder-length curly hair and hazel eyes opened the door and stuck her head out.

"Oh, Aoko-chan it's so nice to see you again, and this must be Arthur-kun, he looks so much like his father." the woman said, bending down momentarily to greet him with a quick little wave and a smile, unaware of the small smile that flashed across Arthur's face as his thoughts momentarily turned toward memories of his life as Shinichi Kudo, and all the times he and Kaito had been mistaken for each other.

"It's great to see you too Hasegawa Sensei! You'll be Arthur's new teacher, right?"

"You're correct, Aoko-chan." she said before turning to Arthur once again.

"Follow me Arthur-kun, you'll be in class 2-C."

* * *

 **So how was it? Sorry if this chapter was a bit short, i'm full of ideas but short on time.**  
 **(Dangit' Plotjackalopes, why won't you stop bothering me?) anyway as always please review and maybe leave a suggestion.**  
 **TTFN**

 **-Arlen**


	3. Chapter 3: Meeting the new team

**A/N: Hey there, I'm back with another chapter! Sorry it took so long, my sleep patterns were a complete wreck until recently, and I can never get a good flow of concentration when I feel like I might pass out if I sit down for too long. Plus i wanted to give you a longer chapter than my previous ones, I've been rather disappointed with my productivity lately. Anyway this chapter introduces a bunch of new characters into the mix.  
**

 **-Arlen**

* * *

' _Thoughts_ '

"Dialogue"

For now, **dream sequence sections are in bold**

 ** _Enjoy..._**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Meeting the new team**

As Arthur followed his new teacher down the hall, he glanced at the various colorful works of art adorning the bulletin boards that lined the walls.

Most of the pieces were done with finger paint or crayon, with the rare addition of some marker or colored pencil works, though one work caught his eye as they approached the door to class 2-C, a drawing that looked remarkably like an attempted portrait of his past identity, Conan Edogawa, and the name of the artist Interested him even more. Written in navy-blue crayon was the name Hikari Takagi.

' _Hmm… perhaps she's a relative of his._ '

When Arthur glanced up at the name of the project the works on that particular board had been done for, he took note of the fact that it was a project on a famous historical figure of each student's choice.

' _Well if they are related, that would explain a few things, though I always thought I was more famous as Shinichi. I can barely imagine what it would've been like to get that many love letters and pieces of fanmail as Conan instead.'_

 _'And really, I'm sure the term 'Historical Figure_ ' _doesn't apply to me yet in either case. It's only been five years for Christ's sake!'_

Having been caught up in his thoughts, he barely noticed as Hasegawa-sensei entered the classroom, but it was her voice that broke him out of his thoughts.

"You can come introduce yourself now."

' _It's showtime_ ' he thought, a small smirk flashing across his face

* * *

 **Ekoda Elementary classroom 2-C, 15 minutes earlier**

As Hikari walked into classroom 2-C she was greeted by her two best friends, Hiro Suzuki, and Mari Hayashi.

"Hi Hikari-chan!" they both said excitedly.

"Hi Mari-chan, hi Hiro-kun!" Hikari said with a smile as she sat down at her desk next to Mari.

"Hey, hey Hikari-chan, did you hear? We're getting a new student today! And it's a boy!" Exclaimed Mari.

"Ooh, I wonder if he's handsome!" Hikari said, getting a slightly misty look in her eyes and a pink tinge to her cheeks as she imagined what the new student might be like, though all the possibilities she thought up shared varying degrees of similarity to her idol that her father Wataru had told her many stories about, the kid genius Conan Edogawa.

"Hikari-chan, don't tell me you're daydreaming about that kid detective again." Hiro said, interrupting her daydreams. He'd only been partially serious, but he rolled his eyes in exasperation when her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of pink.

"From the stories I heard from Aunt Sonoko, he sounded really annoying."

This earned him an unnaturally ferocious glare from Hikari.

"Fangirl." Hiro muttered, looking down at his desk to hide the grouchy and slightly jealous look on his face behind his mahogany-colored bangs.

"Cut it out you two, Hasegawa-sensei should be here any minute now!" Mari said, glancing down at her watch, the band of which was woven out of purple, orange, and turquoise friendship bracelet strings.

After a quick and somewhat annoyed "oh, alright" from Hiro and a quite grouchy "fine!" from Hikari, Hiro walked two rows back and sat down at his desk.

Less than two minutes later, Hasegawa-sensei walked in.

"Good morning everyone, as you may or may or may not know, we have a new student in class today!" Hasegawa-sensei said eliciting many responses of anticipation and excitement from throughout the classroom.

"He'll probably be a bit nervous about coming to a new school, so be sure to be nice to him while he adjusts."

"Yes sensei!" the class echoed back in unison, or as close as 18 different overly energetic first-graders can come to saying something in unison. Needless to say, that's not very close.

"You can come introduce yourself now."

Everyone in class 2-C fell silent as they waited to get a look at their new classmate.

Five seconds later, Hikari watched as the door opened and a little yellow Canary flew in, landing on Hasegawa-sensei's desk.

A few moments after it landed, it disappeared into a puff of bright blue smoke, only to be replaced by a young boy with familiar yet unfamiliar striking blue eyes, dark-brown-rimmed glasses, and stylishly messy brown hair. He wore an outfit that consisted of red and white sneakers, light grey shorts, a red bowtie, which also seemed a little familiar, and a blue vest worn over a white button up shirt.

He jumped down from where he'd suddenly appeared sitting on Hasegawa-sensei's desk, walked over to the blackboard, and began to speak.

"I'm Arthur Kuroba, junior detective and magician Extraordinaire!" he exclaimed with a smile and a slight bow, to which the whole class burst into applause.

To say Hikari was ecstatic would be the biggest understatement of the century.

Once the students quieted down again the teacher continued.  
"Arthur-kun you'll be sitting in the second row by the window. And Hikari-chan, since your seat is right next to his, you'll be the one to give him a tour of the school."

 _'No one pinch me right now! If this is a dream then I never, ever want to wake up'_

"Hello, earth to Hikari!" Mari said, waving her hand less than an inch in front of Hikari's nose, and when Hikari still just sat there with vacant little cutesy eyes, flushed cheeks, and an exaggerated smile on her face, Mari decided to take drastic measures.

Mari stuck her finger in her mouth, making sure to get it as wet as possible, and then poked it in Hikari's ear.

"Mari that's gross!" Hikari shouted. Luckily the teacher didn't hear her over the crowd of kids surrounding Arthur.

"Well i had to do something before you started drooling in front of the new kid! He may not be my type but he definitely seems to be yours."

"O-of course not Mari-chan!" Hikari said as her cheeks went bright pink.

Mari rolled her eyes

"Fangirl."

"Not you too Mari-chan!"

* * *

' _That went well, I just hope I didn't come across as too arrogant_.' Arthur thought as many of the students began to crowd around him, bombarding him with the usual questions and/or remarks.

"Where are you from Arthur-kun?"

"Arthur-kun, wanna eat lunch with me?"

"Arthur-kun, do you have a girlfriend?"

Arthur quickly evaded the mob of students, no magic tricks required.  
He'd had enough practice as a first-grader after the second, third, and fourth, not to mention fifth and sixth, time around.  
Heck, he could've written a comprehensive 1st grade survival guide.

As he slipped out of the crowd Arthur looked around at the students that had yet to leave their desks.

Fourth row, a boy with hair colored a rich reddish-brown and sea-green eyes which contrasted greatly with his dark complexion.  
All-in-all it was a rather handsome combination, though he was glaring daggers at Arthur in an eerily familiar way.

Second row, a girl with slightly messy, dirty-blonde hair that almost reached her shoulders, freckled cheeks, and brown eyes, and a girl with slightly tanned skin, midnight-blue eyes, and dark-chocolate-colored hair tied up in pigtails.

Judging by her location, the pigtailed girl was Hikari Takagi, his guide who currently seemed to be squabbling with the blonde sitting directly to her right.

"Kuroba-kun, right? I'm Mari Hayashi, and this is your guide Hikari Takagi." the blonde said, motioning towards a heavily blushing Hikari, as Arthur walked up to the two of them.

"Hi, you can call me Arthur."

* * *

 ** _While Connor was sitting on a park bench in his home town, San Francisco, he and the bench were suddenly encased in a rolling crystal ball._**  
 ** _Within a few moments, a surreal, dimly lit corridor lined with oddly shaped doors rose out of the darkness as a backdrop._**

 ** _As the ball began taking all sorts of gravity defying paths -up walls and staircases, along ceilings, and the like- jet black rat silhouettes formed in hordes behind it. Just as it seemed the rats, which had formed a single, monstrous, writhing shadow, were about to catch up, they were ripped apart by something that looked like a gigantic cross between a Crocodile and a python, leaving only a small number of them to follow as the crystal ball finally entered one of the doors._**

 ** _As soon as the crystal ball and the shadows entered the room, which was a completely empty, nondescript grey space, the shadows faded into the background and the crystal ball around Connor and the bench disappeared, leaving the image to expand. Apparently though, the background of the image had changed at some point._**

 ** _Where there had once been the familiar park, there was a very different park, one with Sakura trees and a very different city skyline off in the distance. As Connor sat there on the bench, a beautiful young woman with hair such a dark shade of red it was almost black sat down next to him on the bench, gave him a slight peck on the cheek, and leaned her head on his shoulder..._**

"Get up knucklehead! If we miss this trip I swear I'll never let you live it down!"

Connor rolled over and sat up in bed simultaneously, narrowly avoiding smacking his face into the rather prominent chest of his close friend, next door neighbor, and classmate, Melanie Carson.

Connor looked down at his alarm clock that sat next to his newsboy cap, glasses, and a stack of Detective Conan Manga volumes.

"It's 5:00 A.M. Mel, why wake me u... Oh _shit_! this is bad, this is bad, we're gonna be late!" Connor replied, his tone changing from groggy to panicked.

Melanie rolled her peppermint-green eyes in exasperation as he began stumbling all over the place in a rush to find everything he had yet to pack for the senior trip their class was taking to japan.

"I swear, for someone with insanely fast reflexes, you sure can be a complete klutz." Melanie said, shaking her head and only half stifling a laugh.

* * *

Last December, two months after his 18th birthday, Connor's parents got into a huge fight that came very close to getting physical, a marriage wrecker. Within a week they'd both disappeared, and by the next, Connor was informed by his mother's attorney that his parents were divorced.

Being around Connor had constantly put his parents on edge after his uncle Albert died when he was 15 and left him nearly 1.5 million dollars worth of gambling winnings and a twelve week old, unusually colored flying squirrel named Blackjack.

Since neither one of Connor's parents wanted the San-Francisco apartment, or to have anything to do with each other or with him, Connor was left to live on his own in the apartment.

Connor and his uncle had been quite close, but both his parents pretty much hated Albert, they never bothered hiding it, even at the funeral, and would change the subject or start a shouting match every time Connor tried to ask what their reasons were. He hadn't seen or heard from them for five months and had never gotten them to give him a straight answer either, though he could pretty easily what their reasons probably were. Both his parents worked on the I.T. team of a cubicle-style office complex, and no jobs in that place paid very well.

The people slaving away at their computers never got any promotions higher than a manager position, a pay-raise was out of the question, and Connor's parents got the same treatment with annual salaries that were barely more than the salaries of the ill-tempered managers. Connor could guess that seeing someone become a millionaire by what many people would consider disreputable means, while they had worked for years and never earned that much, made his parents jealous on some level.

* * *

Twenty-five minutes had passed and by this point, Connor stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, running through a mental checklist as he examined his outfit. It consisted of Grey jeans, a grey and white plaid dress shirt, grey sneakers with green highlights that had faded to a yellow-green color, a grey vest, and his good ol' newsboy cap, a present from Albert, that rested just high enough on his head that the bronze streak in his dark brown hair was in full view

' _Tokyo, here I come!_ ' Connor thought as he clipped his multi-tool, complete with switchblade onto his belt loop and tucked it into his pocket. He'd taken classes on knife-fighting techniques so he'd be able to defend himself if ever the time came, and there was always a small possibility that it mght if you lived in or were visiting a large city.

Connor had made Absolutely sure that he wouldn't have to worry about taking his multi-tool on a plane, one of the few times he actually really took advantage of being a millionaire was when he had legal firms whip him up the needed permits for bringing some objects considered weapons, mostly just a few knives or daggers, on an airplane. Other than his multi-tool and his lil' buddy Blackjack, everything he had air travel permits for was purely for some really high-end, and really, _really_ realistic, cosplay.

Connor grabbed his luggage and rushed out the door of his apartment, only to find Melanie, waiting for him with her hands on her hips.

"Come on Connor, Mom and I already have all my bags in the car."

"Alright already, lets just get going!" Connor replied

In less than five minutes, they were on their way to Eleanor High, a moderately posh private high-school where the top four of every senior class recieved full scholarships to the San-Francisco Institute of technology, which some smart-ass had started calling CiscoTech.  
Sadly, no matter how corny a pun it was, the name stuck.

* * *

 **A/N: So there it is folks, hope you Enjoyed! Yowzers though, the PlotJackalope infestation seems to be getting worse.  
Anyone know Elmer Fudd's phone number? I think he'd really enjoy this rabbit season! XD**  
 **As always, reviews and suggestions are greatly appreciated!**

 **-Arlen**


	4. Chapter 4: 1st-grade romance problems

**A/N: Hey there everyone, sorry I took so long for this, I've just been taking some time off to think about what direction I'd want to take this in as a series, not just a story. Plus my family recently got a really high-end 88-key electronic piano keyboard, so I've been starting to try to learn a few songs on it (mostly anime tracks).**

 **I had a bit of a PlotJackalope attack recently too, but now that I have it under control, I'll let you in on something: I'm eventually going to turn this into a series with lots of crossovers to various shows. the Fairy Tail one will be a big one, but it won't happen for a while.**

 **also, WARNING: brief mention of blood/gore that may be disturbing**

 **Chapter 4: 1st-grade romance problems  
**

* * *

It was lunch time for class 2-C, and as the last of the students filtered into the cafeteria, Mari stood off to the side, as she had been for the past few minutes, barely suppressing small bouts of laughter brought on by the scene playing out just across the room.

Arthur and Hikari had been on a tour of the school alright, but it seemed to her that Hikari had barely managed to keep her cool during the tour, only speaking when she had to and blushing to some degree throughout the entire thing, which had lasted until just before lunch.

Currently, a furiously blushing Hikari and a rather uncomfortable looking Arthur sat across from each other at a table near the window.

Since she felt a little sorry for her friend, Mari finally managed to suppress her laughter completely so she could walk up to the two of them.

"So Arthur where'd you transfer from, and why during the middle of the school year?" Mari said as she sat down between Arthur and Hikari.

"I transferred from America. I only lived there for a year though. I was born in Beika. And as for the reason I transferred halfway through the school-year, I'd rather not say." Arthur replied, feigning the best "I'd rather not talk about it" uncomfortable look he could muster, though apparently his fabricated backstory just fell flat on its face, he could see a hint of disbelief in Mari's eyes. His acting skills were nowhere near as good as Kaito's.

Glancing over at Hikari with a slight smile, Arthur continued.

"Hikari-chan, I thought I was supposed to be the nervous one, I'm the new student here, not you."

Apparently, most of what they'd been talking about had fallen on deaf ears in Hikari's case, she'd been staring down at her food nervously for the past minute.

"O-oh sorry, it's just… are you related to Conan Edogawa?" she blurted, somewhat embarrassed.

"Yeah, distantly though. Why?" he said in surprise

When Hikari just looked up at him momentarily and went back to staring at her food while her cheeks went beet-red, Mari cut in to answer for her.

"Since she's too embarrassed to tell you, I will. Edogawa-kun is kind of her celebrity crush."

"Oh… now I understand why you've been so nervous around me Hikari-chan… I look a ton like him, don't I?" Arthur said glancing around uncomfortably.

' _Oh god no, she's starting to remind me of Ayumi_.' was the thought that passed through his mind as he remembered an incident from the very end of his time as Conan that still pained him to think about, even though he knew it was no one's fault.

"Hey Arthur, why the long face?" Mari said, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"It's nothing." Arthur Said with a forced smile that was meant to be reassuring, though sadness still shone in his eyes, so it didn't really work.

Suddenly Arthur felt the all-too-familiar sensation of someone watching him, and when he whipped around, sea-green glaring eyes met his own from behind mahogany bangs.

Mari and Hikari followed Arthur's gaze.

"Come on over Hir-" Hikari began.

"Hiro stood up, picked up his tray, and walked away. Making a point of ignoring the three of them."

"What's with him today?" Hikari said, rather annoyed and a bit confused by her friend's behavior.

"I think I know." Mari said in a worried whisper meant to only be heard by herself. Though, with senses as sharp as his, Arthur didn't fail to hear her.

"Who was that? I noticed him glaring at me right after I introduced myself this morning too."

"He's a friend of ours, Hiro Suzuki, though he's not usually like that." Hikari replied.

"Is he related to Sonoko Suzuki?"

"Yep, she's his aunt."

 _'That explains why I recognized that glare, I saw it on her face most of the time for nineteen years.'_ Arthur thought to himself while trying, and failing, to suppress a bout of laughter.

Mari Looked at him like he just grew a second head.

"Sorry, sorry, I've just met her a few times, she's friends with my dad." Arthur said with a small chuckle.

It was Actually close to true, Sonoko and Kaito did know each other from having met at Shinichi's "funeral", and contrary to what Arthur, or mostly anyone expected, they'd hit it off pretty well, plus She had met him, twice, as Arthur.

luckily she hadn't attended Arrthur's debut heist as Doyle The Specter.

He'd accidentally sent a trigger-happy rookie task-force member to psychotherapy for a month, so KID and Doyle decided to give the task force a rest to avoid causing any mental breakdowns next time.

 **FLASHBACK: 6 weeks ago, Tokyo University campus, outside the Arts' Center**

As news of KID and his mysterious new partner Doyle's successful escape blared out of Inspector Ginzo Nakamori's police radio, he sat next to a rookie officer, whose name he remembered to be something vaguely like Thompson. For the past ten minutes, he'd been trying to get the rookie to tell him exactly what happened between his screams and his quick, shaking breaths.

"A-a-all that blood... he should have been dead!"

"B-b-but It just... crawled back."

"Calm down son, it's over." Ginzo responded. He could tell that the poor man was in shock, but he still couldn't understand what caused it.

After a minute or so of silence, except for the distant sound of police sirens, the inspector tried again.

"Can you tell me what exactly happened? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I-I Shot one of Doyle's hands off at the wrist!"

The inspector gave a puzzled and scared look before motioning for him to continue.

"He c-collapsed, but when I started to walk up to check him, something j-j-jumped out of a vent a-at me!"

"What was it?"

"It..."

"O-oh god, I-it was h-his...his freaking hand!"

In a nearby alley, two shadowed figures stood watching the exchange, one the size of a young child, the other an adult wearing a black ball cap that hid their face from view.

"And this is why i hate having to do that, first it was the emergency medical team, and now this. I can never use that trick without driving someone halfway to the loony bin." the child sized figure said in a rather depressed tone.

"To put it bluntly Conan, It's not your fault, and the whole mess you're in never was." The figure in the black hat responded, turning to face their companion.

The child sized figure grimaced, either from leftover bits of pain in their fully healed wrist, or from discomfort caused by their thoughts.

"And hey, look on the bright side, if word gets out about what happened tonight, it might even scare Snake and his goons enough to keep them away for a while."

"We both know just how unlikely that is, Kuroba."

 ***END FLASHBACK***

* * *

It was 2:30 in the afternoon, finally the school day was over.

Most students of class 2-C were milling about in the classroom, gathering up their belongings before heading home.

Arthur looked up as Hikari spoke.

"Arthur-kun do you... do you want to walk home with us? Hiro-kun already left, so..."

"Sure, I'd be happy to but, uh, we should probably wake up Mari-chan."

"What?"

Hikari turned around to face her friend, only to find that she'd passed out at her desk and was resting her cheek in a puddle of drool.

"Oh."

When the three of them each arrived at their respective lockers on the floor below, Arthur found an unusual surprise, A blood-red envelope with golden snake trim fell out of his locker. He discreetly opened it, only to find a note written in, from what he could tell from the ink dots here and there on some of the characters, burgundy fine-tip sharpie. The only truly strange thing about the note was the gold cobra caricature that had begun to slither back and forth along the bottom edge of the note.

Arthur's eyes widened slightly and the corner of his mouth twitched before his features formed a subtle scowl.

' _Akako? Well, this is... unusual_ '

 **I need to talk with you two**

 **in regards to the show tonight.**

 **it's urgent.**

' _At least her subtlety's improved. Somewhat._ '

Akako Koizumi was the last person he knew that he'd expect to be mysteriously leaving him notes. Sure she's got the "mysterious" part of it down just fine, but she'd generally completely avoided any non-obligatory contact with the Kurobas after Kaito and Aoko got married, and it didn't take a detective, or even a Kogoro Mouri, to figure out why.

She had a longstanding crush on Kaito throughout the entirety of high-school, and she probably still had feelings for him, though she heavily repressed them. Most conversations between those two would've sounded like a stiffened version of a pair of mildly acquainted coworkers kicking back at a cafe, if not for her usual odd mannerisms and occasional sadistic comments.

Akako hadn't tried to provide any sort of warnings for more than a year. By now, the snipers were just more of the usual by their standards, and knowing her she probably already knew that, meaning that whatever this was about was probably big. Really big.

His concentration was suddenly shattered by Mari's slightly raised voice.

"Hey Arthur-kun, how did you get someone to send you a love letter so quickly?"

the cobra flared its hood as Arthur quickly stuffed the note in his pocket.

"It wasn't a love letter, just someone's idea of an elaborate prank."

"Oh really? That's a pretty fancy envelope for a prank." Mari replied

"If it was a love letter, I would've taken better care of it instead of crumpling it up." Arthur countered

"Fair point." Mari said, though her voice still held a hint of doubt.

"that's the sort of thing you'd notice on your own if you think like a detective." Hikari cut in cheerily, if a bit over-enthusiastically, startling them both.

' _Oi oi, seriously?_ ' Arthur thought as he rolled his eyes.

a slightly awkward silence followed for the next few seconds.

"A-anyway lets get going." Mari said, eager to break the awkward tension that had settled around them.

after a nod from Arthur and a "Yeah lets go!" from Hikari that was, once again, a little too enthusiastic, they made their way out of the building.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you enjoyed, and sorry for the wait! I may take longer between chapters depending on whether or not I've already got scenes planned out semi-thoroughly for them. As always, reviews are greatly appreciated and beware of PlotJackalopes.**  
 **See ya' round**

 **-Arlen**


End file.
